Defense of Learning Reflection
Thesis: In my four years here at Sacramento New Technology High School I have gained skills for a future career by developing in my writing, taking up important roles while collaborating, and by finding personal relevance in my art while demonstrating agency.
Artifact 3: American Dream Essay English 11
Driving Question:
To what extent does The Great Gatsby portray the American Dream as a reality, a promise, or an illusion.
Product Description:
The last project that I will be talking about is my American dream essay in my English 11 class. I chose to talk about this specific essay not only because I got a good score on it but also because the topic it was on was very important to me. All of my exemplars I have talked about have something in common which is, how passionate I was on the topic or how I made it about myself. The American dream has a lot of grey area in the sense of everyone defining it in the way they think of it. That was what the essay was asking us to do, to define what we thought the “American Dream” was. We also had to explain how the “American Dream” was portrayed as a reality or promise.
Steps:
This essay was just part of a bigger project so there was many steps that were taken to complete it. I believe the first thing we did for the project was read the book The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald to get some understanding of what the “American Dream” was. The book tells a story of a rich man whose “American Dream” was a women who he loved when he was younger. We then started a podcast on the topic. A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series. For the podcast we worked in pairs and I got paired up with Michael Hull. We interviewed people on what their opinion was on the “American Dream”. The interviews were for our podcast but also to have evidence for the essay.
Thesis: In my four years here at Sacramento New Technology High School I have gained skills for a future career by developing in my writing, taking up important roles while collaborating, and by finding personal relevance in my art while demonstrating agency.
Artifact 3: American Dream Essay English 11
Driving Question:
To what extent does The Great Gatsby portray the American Dream as a reality, a promise, or an illusion.
Product Description:
The last project that I will be talking about is my American dream essay in my English 11 class. I chose to talk about this specific essay not only because I got a good score on it but also because the topic it was on was very important to me. All of my exemplars I have talked about have something in common which is, how passionate I was on the topic or how I made it about myself. The American dream has a lot of grey area in the sense of everyone defining it in the way they think of it. That was what the essay was asking us to do, to define what we thought the “American Dream” was. We also had to explain how the “American Dream” was portrayed as a reality or promise.
Steps:
This essay was just part of a bigger project so there was many steps that were taken to complete it. I believe the first thing we did for the project was read the book The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald to get some understanding of what the “American Dream” was. The book tells a story of a rich man whose “American Dream” was a women who he loved when he was younger. We then started a podcast on the topic. A podcast is a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series. For the podcast we worked in pairs and I got paired up with Michael Hull. We interviewed people on what their opinion was on the “American Dream”. The interviews were for our podcast but also to have evidence for the essay.
ELA Argumentation/Explanation Strand: Evidence
This essay was one of the best essays I have done because I got into it and found my personal relevance in it just like my other exemplars. The reason that I enjoyed writing this essay was because I put my parents story in it and others in the same position as them. For my essay I tried to use as much evidence as I could to explain how the American Dream was portrayed to be an illusion. I did refer back to the book for evidence to prove my point. This essay being my strongest essay has really changed the way I write my essays and way more open minded. Before this essay I not only was really bad at writing essays but I also didn’t like looking for evidence. It made it so hard to find specific things on the topic I was talking about and kind of killed the whole mood to wanting to write essays. Being in Bakers class also helped me and pushed me to do better in my writing. One thing that really helped the evidence finder problem was having to do before/ during/ and afters for each chapters. It allowed me to go back to the assignment and find quotes faster than usual. We also did this drawing activity where there was a cut out of a man who was meant to be Gatsby from the book and we had to put quotes in his body and also give the cut out some personality. That activity allowed for quotes to stand out and made it so much easier for me to have an idea on what to use for evidence. I also used my interviews from my podcast as evidence to prove that the American dream is overrated and just such an illusion. The people I interviewed had great answers for my point. I explained three reasons why the American dream is just an illusion and they were; that is leads to unattainable expectations, it leads to inequality for both men and women, and you aren’t guaranteed to achieve the dream you have always dreamed of. We are always told that the hook is the most important part because that grabs the reader's attention and that will only get them to get intrigued or not.
Written Communication Strand: Development
This essay was easy to write because my thoughts were able to flow free and I got to express myself in many ways. My ideas were kind of already thought out while we were reading The Great Gatsby because I knew what the “American Dream” can make people do or mess with their mind.There were key things that made the American Dream such a far thing to actual reach. The same time we were reading the book, the Spanish class was reading Enrique’s Journey. The book told a story of a boy crossing the border to get the U.S by traveling on a train. Reading that book just reminded me of my families story and even my own. I am an illegal citizen and even though I do not know exactly how I crossed I know it was still scary and hard. People try to cross every single day and some do not get the same opportunity as other to actually make it. Then they have to live with the constant fear of getting deported back to a country that they don’t even call their own anymore. I have lived in the U.S for about 15 years now and I can’t imagine myself in Mexico because that is not my home. I live in constant fear as well because I don’t get the same opportunities as another student in class just because they were born here. Their “American Dream” is much more different than mine or my brothers or my mother. I wish I could be a police officer or a firefighter like my grandfather but I can’t because me not being a citizen does not permit me. I have to study something that does not involve anything federal because me being here is not legal so I can’t do anything with law. Even being a dentist is something I can’t do. My dreams get crushed by a simple thing, where I was born. So my “American Dream” is becoming a U.S citizen. Compared to others they do not need to worry about that and that is why I took this essay to heart. It made me realize how crazy a simple thing can change your dreams and see things differently. That is what I wanted to prove with my essay and all my evidence does exactly that. Like I mentioned previously the hook is very important and statistics are facts that can’t be ignored.
This essay was one of the best essays I have done because I got into it and found my personal relevance in it just like my other exemplars. The reason that I enjoyed writing this essay was because I put my parents story in it and others in the same position as them. For my essay I tried to use as much evidence as I could to explain how the American Dream was portrayed to be an illusion. I did refer back to the book for evidence to prove my point. This essay being my strongest essay has really changed the way I write my essays and way more open minded. Before this essay I not only was really bad at writing essays but I also didn’t like looking for evidence. It made it so hard to find specific things on the topic I was talking about and kind of killed the whole mood to wanting to write essays. Being in Bakers class also helped me and pushed me to do better in my writing. One thing that really helped the evidence finder problem was having to do before/ during/ and afters for each chapters. It allowed me to go back to the assignment and find quotes faster than usual. We also did this drawing activity where there was a cut out of a man who was meant to be Gatsby from the book and we had to put quotes in his body and also give the cut out some personality. That activity allowed for quotes to stand out and made it so much easier for me to have an idea on what to use for evidence. I also used my interviews from my podcast as evidence to prove that the American dream is overrated and just such an illusion. The people I interviewed had great answers for my point. I explained three reasons why the American dream is just an illusion and they were; that is leads to unattainable expectations, it leads to inequality for both men and women, and you aren’t guaranteed to achieve the dream you have always dreamed of. We are always told that the hook is the most important part because that grabs the reader's attention and that will only get them to get intrigued or not.
Written Communication Strand: Development
This essay was easy to write because my thoughts were able to flow free and I got to express myself in many ways. My ideas were kind of already thought out while we were reading The Great Gatsby because I knew what the “American Dream” can make people do or mess with their mind.There were key things that made the American Dream such a far thing to actual reach. The same time we were reading the book, the Spanish class was reading Enrique’s Journey. The book told a story of a boy crossing the border to get the U.S by traveling on a train. Reading that book just reminded me of my families story and even my own. I am an illegal citizen and even though I do not know exactly how I crossed I know it was still scary and hard. People try to cross every single day and some do not get the same opportunity as other to actually make it. Then they have to live with the constant fear of getting deported back to a country that they don’t even call their own anymore. I have lived in the U.S for about 15 years now and I can’t imagine myself in Mexico because that is not my home. I live in constant fear as well because I don’t get the same opportunities as another student in class just because they were born here. Their “American Dream” is much more different than mine or my brothers or my mother. I wish I could be a police officer or a firefighter like my grandfather but I can’t because me not being a citizen does not permit me. I have to study something that does not involve anything federal because me being here is not legal so I can’t do anything with law. Even being a dentist is something I can’t do. My dreams get crushed by a simple thing, where I was born. So my “American Dream” is becoming a U.S citizen. Compared to others they do not need to worry about that and that is why I took this essay to heart. It made me realize how crazy a simple thing can change your dreams and see things differently. That is what I wanted to prove with my essay and all my evidence does exactly that. Like I mentioned previously the hook is very important and statistics are facts that can’t be ignored.